ROB LONGLEY, QMI AGENCY

SOCHI, RUSSIA - What does it matter that it is a country with just one player on a regular NHL roster this season?

Or that in the entire land there are just 17 indoor rinks? Or that it was facing the defending Olympic champion?

In the end, the tiny hockey nation of Latvia gave the purported powerhouse Canadians the scare of their competitive lives in a 2-1 quarterfinal loss Wednesday at the Bolshoy Ice Dome.

And if the gold medallists from 2010 can manage just two goals on 57 shots against little Latvia, what can they expect against the emerging power-house Americans in Friday’s semifinal game?

“The team we’re playing scores easily and we haven’t been scoring easily,” Canadian coach Mike Babcock said after the narrow victory against a team that had never before made it to the final eight of an Olympic tournament. “We just talked about the hockey gods — you keep doing things right, you’re going to be rewarded.”

The reward on this night came late and — given the flow of Canadian goal production thus far these Games — from a likely source. A Shea Weber blast from the point with 6:54 remaining in the third — on the 54th shot of the night — saved Canada from the shame of an unfathomably early exit.

For most of the night, the hockey gods were smiling at the other end, where unheralded Latvian goalie Kristers Gudlevskis was single-handedly narrowing the gap between a team of plucky but poor-skating long shots and an infinitely more talented collection of superstars.

He stopped still goalless Sidney Crosby on a breakaway and Jeff Carter, too. Sure, he had the help of a goal-post and a crossbar, the latter as Chris Kunitz faced an empty net in the first period. But there were plenty of big saves as, for the first time this tournament, the Canadians managed to have a strong presence in front of an opponent’s net.

Then the refs shone more favour the Latvians’ way when Canada was robbed first of a goal and then a penalty shot when the puck squirted under Gudlevskis and part-way across the goal line before defender Kristaps Sotnieks got his hand on it.

So sure, the Canadians never trailed in this one and are 4-0 in the tournament. But the dogging question is whether this team needs to be downgraded from gold-medal favourite to one needing to improve vastly to knock off the U.S.

“I’d say we are improving and getting better and better each game,” Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said when asked how much better the team needed to get to make it to the gold-medal contest on Sunday.

“You wouldn’t be asking that question if we filled the net tonight. Look across our lineup: There’s a lot of talent out there. I don’t think anyone’s squeezing the stick or worrying or panicking too much.”

The worry and the panic and the analysis may be left for others, but the fact remains that 57 shots may as well have been 107 if only two are going to reach twine.

The U.S., which cruised past the Czech Republic 5-2 in another quarterfinal matchup Wednesday, has piled up 20 goals (including five from Phil Kessel) through four games, while Canada has just 13, seven of those from blue-liners.

“At this point, the puck just seems to be going in the net for them,” Babcock said. “I’ve watched some of their action and they seem to be scoring. The (Joe) Pavelski line (with Maple Leaf wingers Kessel and James van Riemsdyk) seems to be flying and just filling the net.

“We haven’t had that. We feel we have quality players who have gotten quality opportunities — real good looks — and we haven’t scored.”

Still, Babcock and his players are clinging to the belief — warranted, or not — that when needed most, the switch to the goal light will flip in their favour.

“It’s my experience over time and with playoff-type hockey, this stuff happens,” Babcock said. “In the end, though, you can’t usually keep the skilled guys who score and are determined down. I’m optimistic to say the least.”

That optimism would appear to be based on the belief that the team is getting better from game to game. The Canadians did beat Finland, one of the other semifinalists, in group play, so they certainly fit in the final four.

But as lethal as Weber is from the point — he has three goals now and fellow defenceman Drew Doughty has four — an upgrade up front still seems to be in order.

“I think there’s a lot of guys (waiting to break out),” forward Corey Perry said. “Hopefully it comes out in the next game. We’re going to need some more goals. If we do the same things, we’re going to be all right.”

Given that they are 4-0, one big effort away from getting a shot at gold and improving in enough areas, there is no need for panic.

There is, however, a willingness to seek out optimism. After playing four games against pesky European sides, perhaps a return to a version closer to the domestic game will help.

“We definitely play against those guys the most in North America, so we’re familiar with all their guys,” Weber said. “They’re great players and they’ve had a great tournament. It’s going to be an exciting game.”

Perhaps. But Canadians are hoping it’s not the anxious excitement the team foisted on a nation on Wednesday.

COAST TO COAST

From Halifax to Vancouver, Team Canada is taking a nation on a wild ride these Olympics, and the players know it.

With the weight of expectations from the homeland getting heavier by each win here, the players can only imagine what’s going on at home even though they never go into a game expecting a blowout win.

“A lot of people screaming at the TV I’m sure,” Canadian captain Sidney Crosby said following Wednesday’s 2-1 quarter-final win over unheralded Latvia. “It was tough. We had some great chances and when you’re getting chances like that, there’s not a lot you would change.

“I think it’s just the ultimate test of your patience when you’re getting chances like that. You need to find a way to score.”

Crosby, of course, is the flashpoint for that, even if some of it is nonsense. That said, he has yet to score in this tournament, was denied on a breakaway against the Latvians and overall had his most modest night of these Olympics.

“You look at tonight and besides picking the puck up and throwing it in the net, what could you tell someone to do in those situations?,” Crosby said. “I think you just trust in what you do. As far as the depth that we have, we know that guys are going to put those in.”

At least Canada is still kicking, just as it did in Vancouver where Crosby’s overtime goal against the U.S. clinched the gold medal.

“Obviously, being here in Russia I know the expectations were high, but it’s not easy,” Crosby said about the host team’s quarterfinal exit in a loss to Finland. “There’s a lot of good teams here and it doesn’t take much.”